GAI Consultants’ Senior Director Shares CRE Top Ten Issues for 2017-2018

Orlando, FL— Owen Beitsch, PhD, FAICP, CRE, Senior Director of GAI Consultants’ (GAIs’) Community Solutions Group, today shared new information about the issues and trends impacting U.S. commercial and residential real estate. Beitsch is a member of The Counselors of Real Estate^® (CRE), the global professional association which annually publishes The CRE^® Top Ten Issues Affecting Real Estate, an update of market trends and conditions which influence real estate opportunities and risks.

“Political polarization and global uncertainty lead the 2017-18 list because divisiveness—which is occurring at all levels—makes decision making difficult,” Beitsch explained. Global uncertainty is also creating challenges for investment and employment in non-U.S. markets, and could negatively impact foreign investment in U.S. properties. Other issues include the technology boom, robotics, and two distinct generations—Baby Boomers and Millennials—living and working side-by-side.

Other disruptors on the CRE Top Ten Issues list include:

• Retail disruption
• Infrastructure investment
• Housing
• Lost decades of the middle class
• Real estate’s emerging role in health care
• Immigration
• Climate change

The full list of issues and trends with explanations and interpretations can be found on The Counselors of Real Estate’s website.

The CRE organization is known for thought leadership and objective insights, with more than 50 real estate specialties represented among its member experts who are admitted to the organization by invitation. Members contribute to development of the Top Ten Issues Affecting Real Estate by participating in the CRE External Affairs (Issues and Trends) initiative. Mr. Beitsch was asked to join the Counselors of Real Estate in 1990. He is also a faculty member at the University of Central Florida where he teaches in the school’s urban planning program. Mr. Beitsch speaks or writes frequently on these and related real estate or economic issues, and is the former assistant editor of the CRE publication Real Estate Issues.

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